Try Again
by Herefox
Summary: Yami, Seto and Bakura are seen as the outsiders of the time they are living in. When Bakura finds out a secret that Seto has been hiding for years, Yami’s the one who faces the consequences. Pairings: something with Seto Yami Bakura and others
1. Babble Babble

**_Disclaimer: Don't own any of the original characters of YuGiOh, only their fictional personalities those are used for this story._**

**_A/N: I'm rewriting 'Try Again' as an experiment. Please R&R if you like it and say what you think. Feel free to express yourself :)_**

**_Additionally, I could use a beta so if you liked to help me out, drop me a message. _**

**_Note: This story takes place long after the final arc of YuGiOh. I'm ignoring many facts, mostly the ones connected with the disappearance or appearance of some characters. Don't feel bothered by it, however; otherwise there would be no story or it would be too complicated._**

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**Chapter 1: "Babble Babble" **

Yami liked to play games. Mind games, physical games, mental games, desk games, card games, whatever… Never had he told what games he liked to play the best.

Seto liked to play games as well and he liked to get in his possession anything someone dared to mention that he could not get. He liked to hunt for rare cards, best cards, most powerful cards, God cards, dragon cards…but never had he said what his most desirable prey was.

And Bakura liked… Bakura. He was a sadist in his own kind of way. He liked pain, disorder and confusion.

All three of them had something in common. They were all bound with their pasts and their lives in the ancient Egypt. But everything had been so much easier back then in the good old Egypt, every one knew the role they had to play, the boundaries they could try to break and the aims they were trying to reach. It was all one huge circle of life, beginning with birth, ending with death and… actually, scratch that, the life in the good old Egypt was as complicated as ever. It never changes, you know.

Although not Bakura nor Yami and definitely not Seto were living in the ancient Egypt anymore nothing much had changed in their social situation. Fighting, competing, hungering for power and riches, it was all the same with maybe some exceptions there and then. Maybe it was because of their pasts; maybe it was because of their changed roles that the three of them had hated each other throughout the time and kept doing it. …sometimes it almost seemed like the past was haunting them. But maybe they were hunting the past.

So there was this wicked game that Seto, Yami and Bakura instinctively kept playing. It didn't make much sense as their fighting was as significant as fatuous rivalry can be but they still kept their fighting triangle alive … But this all has started to sounds way too complicated by now. So, to cut a long story short and make it simpler, the situation was somewhat like this:

Seto spent most of his free time bothering Yami, wanting to duel him, wanting to defeat and humiliate him, wanting to be smarter and better. Like a sly fox watching the pray Seto watched his enemy. Seto was quite easy to figure out, however. If he had an aim, he reached it. Then he moved on. Yami was an exception; he was something Seto couldn't just reach and move on because he could not be better than him. He would be one day and HE knew it.

Yami on the other hand did not care about Seto or all the victories over him. Much. Except for those numerous times when he was desperately trying to outrun one of those meaningless duels. Most of the time, however, Yami had better things to do; one could almost think that the ex-Pharaoh almost enjoyed his timeless and ageless tries to figure out the labyrinths of Bakura's creepy mind, his paranoid guesses where and when someone (or one particular being with white hair and sharp fangs) is going to try and take over the world or … something similar. He didn't trust the spirit of the ring. Especially starting from the day Bakura had gained himself a brand new body. His powers had partly disappeared after the millennium items were destroyed but he still was powerful enough to make Yami's headache never go away (whenever he saw him).

And what more was Bakura up to? He was trying to annoy every living being he met. Especially Seto because to steal something from that supposedly well guarded house was one of the biggest challenges at present. That made the older Kaiba brother furious and oh how much fun it was to watch that…

But… surprisingly as it may seem, Bakura still could be considered the most relaxed and sane from this company of three. He had grown addicted to enjoying his life as one of the mortals, (after he similarly to Yami had finally gained his own body and could function normally on his own). Bakura actually liked the life as it was, even if he often found it dull and boring and tried to spice things up with his own methods.

Let's throw in some more fact once we're at it. There was this one thing that complicated the whole situation. Yami and Bakura couldn't really be called 'mortals' and neither could be Seto Kaiba. Why? Because they weren't ageing. They were immortal and yet they lived in this world as mortals. For Yami and Bakura it wasn't anything new to get used to because they had already spent 5000 years locked up in their millennium items as spirits, even though living in their own bodies after such a long time was something to get used to. Anyway, for Seto Kaiba the whole situation was a little more difficult. He wasn't growing any older and now he was stuck looking like a bloody-18-years-old-teenager-too-grown-up-to-be-18. How exactly could they know that they weren't aging? Well, 6 years had passed since all the troubles dealing with millennium items had been solved and the items got destroyed, and Yami, Seto, and Bakura hadn't changed even a little bit. That all was really a little bit sad…

Others of their much talked and much hate-loved gang, however, had grown up and were living their own lives by now. Yugi, now as tall as Yami himself, was a young gentleman, working in his grandfather's game shop. It had changed greatly now, looking more like a huge game mall rather than just a small shop. Yugi was managing the things in the shop rather well after his grandfather had left him the key of the shop, declaring (in a short note left on the kitchen table) that is was time for him to travel across the world and see a load of new places. At the beginning little Yugi had been terrible confused, sad, depressed, betrayed and feeling every other emotion what a 17 years old teenager left alone in a small game shop could feel. How could his grandfather just leave him like that and how would he torture that old crackhead once he would return was the main concern of his thoughts for one and half a year. But, as the time passed by, he came to the realization that it probably had been the best for his grandpa just to do what he had always wanted to do and follow his heart's calls (and if the oldie ever decided to return Yugi was ready to stone him anytime). After all, leading a shop couldn't be that bad, could it?

Yugi paid a high price for thinking thoughts like those at the beginning because it had been amazingly difficult to lead a shop on his own with nothing but a worthless Yami being there to help (or not so much) him. At one point (and they had turned out to be many points) he had wanted nothing more than just to crawl under his bed and never to come out so that he wouldn't have to deal with a bunch of documents and countless bills and a Yami that had difficulties to learn how to open and close the cash-deck properly. And that really wasn't much of help. Yami had always tried hard but failed even harder at helping in any way. He was an awful shop assistant, terrible cook, hopeless driver, pitiable street sweeper and the list went on. But back to Yugi now. At the moment he was dating the same good old Tea, even if he was in serious doubts that he would ever be willing to marry her. Marry? Ha, he doubted he wanted to see her for more than 20 seconds per day.

Our dear Mr. Mutou still lived in the upper floor of his mall. Yami lived there as well, doing nothing and resembling a lazy sack that spent his time desperately trying to learn something useful although… it was hopeless. As much as Yami had been wise and powerful as the pharaoh of Egypt as much was he a total misfit for the life in the 21st century.

Now let's turn to …Ryou Bakura, the nice, randomly white-haired guy who was still the same nice, still very randomly white-haired guy as before. Just now he worked as a policeman and liked when people in streets referred to his as the 'officer'. He loved his work and in his free time wondered if he should make a move on Yugi or not. Yes, six years were quite a long time to decide that but Ryou was still the same nice white-haired coward as before (even if he was a policeman now). He was living in his father's house although the father himself wasn't living there anymore. He had moved out and left his property to his son, saying that he needed his privacy (Ryou hadn't guessed till nowadays who really needed the privacy- he or his father) and it would be better for them all if he left and went back to England. Ryou didn't mind it, as well as Bakura who wasn't doing anything useful except for planning how to steal something (and that was not very useful)…with Ryou, as a policeman, hot on his heels.

Mokuba (now with more maturity than ever) helped his brother with the company. Seto was quite worried that he didn't get older. Let's be serious, the fact that he still looked like a gorgeous, young and desirable 18-year-old-but-too-grown-up-and-mature-to-be-18 was getting quite obvious and what would his business partners think if he stayed young forever? _Well,__hello, everyone, I'm Seto Kaiba and I'm immortal. Don't be bothered by it though, my mental health is stable and this sickness is not progressing too fast so far. So, where were we…?_

The fact that Seto wasn't getting any older didn't bother Mokuba though; he even found it amusing in a weird way and liked to refer to Seto as his 'little baby-brother'. Sometimes. Then Seto would usually murmur that Mokuba had lost his mind and had a really wicked sense of humor. Very black humor, if he was allowed to add. To not let Seto worry as much as he used to, Mokuba told his brother over and over again that he's going to take care of everything and there's always a possibility to simulate a little accident involving one Seto, one car and one cliff if Seto's going to staying young forever. However, that didn't make Seto feel much better or worry less.

And then there was…Joey. Joey who liked Mai. Joey who still liked Mai. Joey loved Mai actually and they were married and had one child. What a surprise, eh? But let's be serious, everyone had known that they would grow up and end their stupid I-don't-like-you-even-if-it's-obviously-I-have-erotical-dreams-involving-you attitude one day. It was a surprise that it happened so soon, actually. They had got together 5 years ago and married the same year. Then they got a child who was a four years old monster by now…as Yami liked to call him. He was as terrible as Joey himself and made Yami's head hurt (sometimes even more than Bakura) Yes, Yami's head because Yami was the nice guy who always had nothing better to do than help Mai and Joey to baby-sit their junior. And to be honest, Yami hated that brat. He hated little children who pulled him by hair and wanted to play some weird games with miniature cars or unnaturally looking dolls. Even worse, Mai and Joey's little darling liked to play dressing-up when his friends came to a visit… soldiers and robots were the hit and they always needed a "fair lady" to rescue. Sure the once mighty Pharaoh had always somehow managed to avoid this role of the 'fair lady' that needed to be rescued but… to put it in other words, Yami was a miserable baby-sitter as well…

One more notable personality was Tea who was a dancer. And a teacher. Yes, she was teaching dancing. And dating Yugi. She was still driveling after Yami, hoping to hear a proposition from Yugi and still annoying. Beside, she was the same good friendship loving person she had always been. But let's not talk about our beloved Tea now because…

Last but not least there were Tristan, Duke and Serenity who were leading a weird and wicked threesome relationship. It was too weird to even describe and none of their friends really wanted to describe it or to ever know what exactly happened behind their closed door. They themselves didn't care what the others thought. The present situation was good enough so what more could these three ask for?

So there we have it- a very vague insight of some of the main character's lives. Now that we have this picture in front of us, let's add some more not so very significant but still memorable details involving Yami, Seto and Bakura.

The three of them had not dated anyone in the last…what, 5000 years?… Seto was very easily frustrated when his brother or anyone else brought up this subject. He had never felt the need to date girls. Nor had he ever felt the weird need to look at guys.

Yami was trying his best to act nice and helpful around his friends and not to freak out every single time when Joey and Mai asked him to help with baby-sitting. His friends always tried to avoid talking about love, dating and anything connected with relationships whenever Yami was together with them because he tended to become unusually bitchy and was sullen for the rest of the day or evening if they did. That didn't stop Bakura to annoy Yami whenever he had a chance to do it. It was almost his favorite thing to do, almost because it was even more fun to steal something from Seto's supposedly well-guarded house.

Their emotions were something they didn't usually speak about with others. It was almost like they were some kind of monuments lacking many humanly aspects. It was almost as if they were wearing masks around other people to make them unaware of the fact that they could actually…feel. When one seems fearless, emotionless and perfect as those three seemed to be, you can be almost sure that it's only an illusion behind that something else is hiding, something lovable, something breakable…

Well, except in the case of Bakura, of course….

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_**(Marilyn Manson: This is the New Shit)**_

_**Babble, babble, bitch, bitch **_

_**Rebel, rebel, party, party **_

_**Sex, sex, sex, and don't forget the violence **_

_**Blah, blah, blah **_

_**Got your lovey-dovey sad and lonely **_

_**Stick your stupid slogan in **_

_**Everybody sing along **_


	2. How Could This Happen To Me

**_A/N: As already said, I'm rewriting this story. The second part is here and if you have any comments or suggestions, take your time and review. sends out flowers and cookies_**

**_A long chapter is in front of you, enjoy :)_**

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**Chapter 2: **"**How could this happen to me?****"**

Yami was lying on his back on the bed in his room as usual, dreaming about his life in the ancient Egypt. He could still remember the soft, warm evening air against his tanned skin when he used to go out on the balcony to look at the vastness surrounding him. He remembered the calmness, the safety and the loneliness that sometimes was there. Not that he had really minded it so much. Of course, it had been quite lonely sometimes but he had had friends as well, there had been Mahado, and Mana…and the other priests… and…suddenly he was ripped out of his thoughts as he heard the door of the back entrance of the game shop (now more a game mall) slam and a loud voice announcing that "they" were here. Yami glanced over at the hello-kitty clock beside his bed muttering curses every time he saw it. It was a gift from Tea and he had been too nice to throw it away as he probably should have done already a long time ago. But Tea had beamed like a bulb when she had placed the clock on his nightstand and commended how awfully nice it looked there. Yami had agreed with her leaving the "nice" part out of the sentence. It was 8pm and the Wheeler pair had finally arrived. What didn't mean anything good. Yami yawned, stretching a little and got up from the bed where he had been lying fully clothed. He slipped out of his room quietly and descended the stairs as gracefully as he could even if he felt like something very scrunched, approximately the same as Yugi's shirts looked when he took them out of the dryer.

"Yami-chan, I'm happy to see ya!" Joey yelled only when the former pharaoh was already standing beside him. Yugi, Tea and Mai were downstairs as well, obviously waiting for Yami to appear. Yami scowled at Joey, not liking when his friend used –"chan" together with his name. It reminded him of his slightly feminine appearance even if he knew that Joey was calling him like that only because they were very close friends. Still, he didn't like it but just pushed these thought in the back of his mind, wondering if he always had been such a splitter.

"Here are the keys, you know my cell-number, there's some food in the fridge and don't let them torture you too much," Mai smiled, giving Yami the bundle of keys of her and Joey's house.

"He loves ya much Yami, it's good you've becom' real buddies" Joey laughed and patted his friend on the back. Yami's eyes widened and his face became pale when he had heard the word "them" what meant he had to baby-sit not only Joey and Mai's kid but his little friends as well. A nightmare. But he didn't want anyone to see the desperation that was living in his soul so he just smiled, nodding weakly.

"Yes, the best friends," he responded faintly, looking at the happy and proud parents of that little devil… "So I guess I'll be leaving to that house now…" Yami murmured, grabbing the bag he had already packed earlier and left at the door. Great, he was not amused. Now he had to spend all his spare time baby-sitting those little brats while Yugi, Tea, Mai and Joey were going to spend a romantic weekend on the sea. The cruise lasted one whole evening, one night and one day. Nice, Yami would have done almost anything just to spend some time on that ship…or in a fancy restaurant… or on a jet… or… he snapped out of his daydreams, forcing his thoughts to focus back on the reality. Here he was, stuck in the 21st century, useless for anything he did. Nobody pitied him… except from himself. Well, he hadn't exactly asked anyone to pity him in the first place…but couldn't they see how much he loathed any work or how much he disliked to be commanded or how…

"I guess I'm… going" Yami repeated, finding it stupid that he had been standing in front of the door for at least five minutes with others waiting impatiently for him to get lost finally. "And…Have a good time you four," he added and opened the door. He heard Tea giggling, what made him shiver.

"Sure we will!" came a response from the brown-haired girl who was clinging to Yugi's elbow desperately. Yami didn't say anything just shut the door behind himself and sighed. Somehow being around his friends was becoming harder and harder with every day. They didn't really understand him, and he didn't understand them anymore either. Especially Yugi. He knew that his other half didn't love Tea but kept pretending as if he felt something toward her, giving that girl hopes for a happy feature together… was Yugi afraid to be alone and not to have anyone with him to love and to care for?Maybe Yugi was afraid to become what had become of his other side-a loner, a loser and a mistake that didn't fit in this world. Yami started to walk slowly to Joey and Mai's house. It was at least 20-minutewalk but he didn't mind it, the weather was rather warm for October even if the air was quite chilly. Well, at least he had his time to think.

… although there was not much left to think about. The ex-pharaoh already knew answers to many of the question who had been bothering his mind from time to time, like, why was he sticking around his friends like a lost puppy, why was he letting them so shamelessly use him whenever they needed some help, and so on.Those were simple; he had to help the people he knew otherwise he felt like a needless thing, tossed in some cockloft so he wouldn't be in the way. He had no skills in absolutely everything he did, except duel monsters, of course. And…well, children liked him for some unknown reason, but that's about it.

Yami had tried to learn something useful (as already mentioned before) but it just seemed too foreign and weird to him, he got confused too often, he didn't succeed with anything. Maybe the main reason behind his failure was the fact that he didn't really want to learn anything. He had never admitted it to anyone than himself but he was hopelessly spoiled and always had been like that. Well, yes, that's why he longed for the ancient Egypt where he had been the Pharaoh, where he had servants and he could get everything he wanted and whenever he wanted it. People had obeyed him and respected him and he had been oh so important! The most important person in the whole country, the pharaoh whom almost everyone had adored and loved and…and his bedchamber back then had been larger than the whole ground floor of Yugi's house! There were silky bed sheets from the finest material and the jewelries he had had and…and now?

A small chamber that Yugi called a room and a shitty hello-kitty-clock instead of fresh exotic flowers beside his bed every night? That's what you call a wonderful life??? Yes, his wonderful life had been going downhill straight from the first day his spirit was awaken…Well, maybe it hadn't been that bad all the time…

Yami was starting to feel guilty for thinking thoughts like these. He should be thankful, grateful and what not more for everything he had now, he tried to persuade himself about it. Yes, his own guilt was the main reason that drove him to do whatever his friends wanted from him and to try hard to make himself useful…but he didn't succeed in most of the cases anyway…or in all of the cases…

Yami hadn't felt this storm of emotions when he had been only a spirit, sealed in the puzzle. He had felt rather uncomfortable then when he had been addressed as the pharaoh because…well, he was a pharaoh…and at the same time he wasn't… and Yugi wasn't a pharaoh for sure… so why should anyone call him "pharaoh" if he didn't even have his own body? But now it was different, now he had his own body… but was he a pharaoh or wasn't he? Probably the answer was clearer than Yami wanted to know it. Nowadays HE wasn't anything at all.

The boy (as he still looked like one) stopped, realizing suddenly that he was standing in front of Joey and Mai's house. Whoa, he had been quick with walking…or slow with thinking. He took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Four suspicious-looking kids (judging from Yami's point of view) greeted him immediately. They were all dressed up in weird outfits: there was a cowboy, a pirate, a knight and a robot… A feeling that something very wrong will happen soon crossed Yami's mind but he tried to suppress this feeling and smiled at the four midgets in front of him.

"Um, hi, everyone!" A smile, "So, you're playing already?" The tone was extremely polite as he dropped his bag with some things in the corner.

"We're in the middle of a war!" the smallest from the kids exclaimed loudly and Yami scowled, immediately softening his look again. No, no, no, he couldn't and wouldn't let these "nice" kids in front of him think that he did not enjoy their company.

"Oh, a war? And what's the purpose of your war? What are you fighting for? And who is fighting against whom?" he forced himself to sound interested and the four kids were in awe, their favorite baby-sitter was here and now they could start playing for real!

"We're fighting each other to save the beautiful princess!" a blonde, cheesy-smiling kid answered, making Yami wondered how stupid was the youth nowadays if the only thing they ever came up with was the saving of some dumb princess. Beside, this all seemed somehow familiar to him. Had they already played this game before? He couldn't remember.

"Oh, and why must the beautiful princess be saved? Who is the one who's endangering her? A dragon? A monster?"

"No! Seto Kaiba!"

"…"

"Yeah, he's terribly evil and has magical powers so he knows how to convince the princess to stay with him!"

"Aha…" Yami sweatdropped, really not knowing what to add here. It was obvious that this was Joey's school if Seto was the evil monster… so Joey probably told his kid that Seto Kaiba is coming to eat him if he doesn't wash his hands and mouth and brush his teeth when he's going to bed… he could almost imagine his friend reading a fairy tale to his son replacing all the evil characters with the arrogant and evil Seto Kaiba. That thought amused Yami and he chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief that someone could really think of something like that.

"But you have to be the beautiful princess, Yami-sama! Of please, please, please! We can't play if we don't have you as our princess!" All the kids started to whine, ripping Yami away from his thoughts.

_What?! _Yami's mind screamed and he was near to the state where he would start screaming at the poor kids as well.

"Oh, but I'm a guy, I can't be a princess. Beside, I don't look like a princess, I would make a terrible princess. I can't act like one because I'm not one and you know that I really like to better watch you playing. I'm too old to do…"

"But please Yami, you always say that. But we need a princess this time. This is the final battle and we can't win it if we don't have a princess! And you would make a pretty princess!" Joey's little darling started to yell, waving his hands in the air like two wings. His three friends joined him in this meaningless action.

_Awesome, this is just great. The situation is becoming dreadful now. This time they mean it seriously! Think, Yami, use your head…and keep acting cool…wait …these are just kids, you can let down your walls and cool attitude and just relax… No! They will make me be the princess then! _ Yami's thoughts rushed chaotically through his head while he looked at the midgets in front of him with a calm smile on his face. "Hey, but what's about the great evil, Seto Kaiba? I think I could better act like him, that would make your battle more interesting" Yami suggested hopefully.

"No! We need the princess; we don't need some Seto Kaiba! He's stupid!"

_I'll squeeze the life out of you, you terrible kids! What's wrong with you and the princess!?_ "Oh, I see. But can't I…" Yami tried once more.

"Nooo, Yami, please… We'll be good tonight and go to beds whenever you tell us!" All four started to beg, their huge eyes starting to water. Yami knew that is was damn hard to get them in their beds… they were sly these little devils…

"But if you won't be our princess, we're not going to beds tonight… at all!" one of them said (not that Yami cared which one) with a smug smile.

At this point our beloved hero gave up. This was the last drop to defeat his defense and he just nodded weakly, forcing something like a smile on his face. "Of course I'll be that…that… whatever… when you put it that way…it sounds very… convincing," he murmured, regretting his decision to participate in all this war game already.

"Yay! That's great! We'll get you the princess' dress!" all four cheered and ran to one of the rooms, leaving Yami with his jaw hanging wide open. A dress? There was a dress as well? How nice from them… he started to plan how to kill those little monsters… later. At the moment, anyway, he had bigger problems to worry about because all four kids had returned and were holding a long, magnificent and dark red dress. A real dirndl.

_This is not happening. Tell me that this is NOT happening._ "But I'm sure you can't take any dress from your mother's wardrobe! She will be very angry if she sees you doing something like that!" Yami said strictly, looking at Mike. He finally had remembered the name of Joey and Mai's kid- Mike… even though he still couldn't remember the names of all the other three Mike's friends.

"But mom said that I can take any clothes from the Granny's chest that's standing in Mom and Dad's room! There are so many old things in it! It's like a real treasure chest!"

Yami's master plan was defeated. And he feared the huge dress in front of him… and the four huge pair of puppy-eyes looking up at him. Ohhh, those little devils…finally he just sighed and took the dress, stomping to one of the rooms to change into his new clothes. The hate for his existence in this world had just increased.

15 minutes later after hard work and figuring out how to get in that dress in the first place, Yami was finally ready and now was standing in front of a big mirror, staring at his reflection. The dress had been the perfect match for him; it fitted like a glow on a hand. Perfect. Ok, Yami thought it was just awful and that he had descended to the lowest possible level but well, it fitted quite well…but to see Egypt get destroyed wouldn't be as hard as this. This was much much worse. Yami even started to believe that his death would have been easier than this. He looked like…like some… like some princess! Just what those little devils needed! A goddamned princess! Where was some justice when he needed it the most?

"Yami, have you dressed!? Kaiba's near, he's ready to attack and we still have to destroy the dragon that's guarding the princess and not letting us save the princess and bring her to a safe place!" Mike shouted from the next room and Yami hissed at his reflection in disgust. Then he noticed a stuffed blue eyed dragon toy on the couch beside him and almost started to laugh. Oh, so this was the fearful dragon he had to be saved from? Hahaha, ok, maybe this was funny. Beside, this all was just a game and those were just little kids. Why was he so angry about one silly dress? He looked in the mirror again and understood what was he so angry about but then just called out loudly that he was ready and they all could come and save him from the very fearful dragon. All four infants stormed inside the room and darted at the stuffed dragon toy and started to stab and pinch it. The sight was just marvelous and Yami couldn't help himself but laugh. This wasn't that bad, maybe he could even enjoy himself today…

Then the doorbell rang.

"Yami, open the door, we're fighting the dragon!" Mike shouted at the 'princess' punching the stuffed animal hard in the ribs. (But what ribs could a stuffed toy possible have?) What a hero. Yami grumbled a little but then went to open the door; he had already forgotten about his outfit. He realized that something was wrong with his look only when he had already opened the door and saw there standing the very famous Seto Kaiba in person who had obviously planned to say something (probably something rude, as always) but now looked frozen in his place with his mouth slightly opened. What a sight, gee…

"Kaiba!" _Oh crap. How did he find me here!?_ cough Yami tried to hide his surprise and act normally…cool… as always… "A bit too late for a visit, isn't it?" _Great topic. Let's talk about the time now, yes?_ Seto still wasn't able to utter out a simple word. Hey, but it was quite a shock for him, wasn't it? It's not everyday you get to see a 5000-something year old yami/pharaoh/your rival wearing quite a fancy looking dress.

"What?!" Yami was getting impatient but then looked at himself "…Ok, you go a point there…" he murmured "but don't judge something just by the way it looks! Really, stop gaping now, Kaiba, it doesn't make me feel better. You know, there is an explanation for all this…"

"You finally switched to the right gender?" Seto asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

_Yes! You're so right! I'm a princess now! …hey, but the arrogant swine is back in his element…better than that gaping…_Yami thought and glared at the man in front of him angrily. He couldn't let his cool attitude slip now, could he? Even in a dress… "So you came here to insult me again? Hey, it's all nice and well but I really don't have the time for your nonsense now. Beside, I thought we were friends!" _By Osiris, I sound like Tea… AGAIN! Oh well, but you just have to love your friends… I guess… yeah right…_

"What are you doing in a dress? I really wouldn't ask in any other case because I'm not THAT interested in all your kinks and what you're doing in your free time and why but… this is just too amusing. So… what are you doing with a dress on in this Mai and Joey's dog-hole?"

Seto was **demanding** an answer. Well, it was only fair. Yami thought it was only fair. He probably would have been even more shocked if he found Kaiba in a dress at one of his best friend's house. It would be shocking if Kaiba had friends… except the Yugi's gang. Wait, they weren't really friends now, right? At least not the whole gang. But he himself could be considered as Kaiba's friend. At least one sided. But that was already a progress!

"Answer, now?" the object Yami was just thinking about and that stood in front of him spoke and Yami looked at his dress and then at Kaiba again.

"I'm an princess" he replied, mentally slapping himself. Come on! How exactly stupid had he sounded now?

"Oh, I see" his rival… (or friend maybe?) sneered. That made Yami very angry. He was ready to say something but the little crowd of midgets ran in the room clinging to his arms and the damned dress.

"Don't worry, princess Yami, we'll save you! You look so nice!" they all shouted one through another and made so many noises that to Yami they started to sound like a crowd of hungry harpies.

"I'm babysitting so I don't really have time now. I'm trying to make myself useful and help my friends! Bye, call me later or something; don't forget I'm your friend. Take care of yourself, don't work so much, stop insulting Joey and try to show more emotions" Yami pattered, slamming the door in Seto's face. _Hey, I'm good!_ He thought to himself happily, pushing the four little devils to another room. What other should he have done? This all princess and babysitting thing was already getting on his nerves and now when his dear rival…friend…(who ever might know?) was paying a short visit to Mai and Joey's house… waaait… why was Seto here, because of Mai and Joey or because of him?

… and why would Seto ever need to search for him? On the other hand, why in the world should he visit Joey? Yami sighed and shook his head. He waited a moment until the doorbell rang once more and only then opened the door: "Wait until I change back in my own clothing if that's so important what you want to say"

"I never wait" Seto declared proudly and the door was slammed in his face again.

* * *

**_Simple Plan_**

**_"Untitled"_**

_"I open my eyes  
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light  
I can't remember how  
I can't remember why  
I'm lying here tonight_

_And I can't stand the pain  
And I can't make it go away  
No I can't stand the pain_

_How could this happen to me  
I made my mistakes  
I've got no where to run  
The night goes on  
As I'm fading away  
I'm sick of this life  
I just wanna scream  
How could this happen to me"_

* * *

_**Please review and say what you think. That really makes my smile!**_


	3. I just wanna live

**A/N: This is the last chapter to rewrite. After that I'm going to add new chapters. :) Be prepared.**

* * *

**Chapter 3:** "**I just wanna live"**

Seto was sitting in his office at home, frantically typing something on the computer when his brother came in the room. This was… a familiar sight to the younger Kaiba, really, nothing ever changed.

Brother. Desk. Computer. Curtains closed.

To be honest, Mokuba couldn't understand what exactly was Seto doing there. Sure he was still the president of Kaiba Corp. but… Mokuba was the vice-president and could already handle most of the important documents and meetings with ease. Especially now when there weren't any maniacs trying to take over the company anymore. That's why Mokuba was seriously starting to worry about his brother's sanity.

"Hey, brother… what you're doing?" he asked innocently and got the same old answer as always – "working". Yeah, right… making a new company, eh?

"And what is that special something you're working on?" Seto heard Mokuba's questioning voice and grumbled something that he would tell him as soon as it's ready. Yeah, right… It surely won't be ready during his lifetime. As if Mokuba really believed those promises. That was the same old answer as ever. He just rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, leaving Seto with his mysterious project. After all, who, except him, cared about his brother? It was quite sad to think that he had no real friends. Seto was such a hard-working guy and sometimes … wait… why had he gone in Seto's office in the first place? Right…to tell him that dinner was ready. Mokuba turned on one heel and got back to where his brother was. If he didn't call him he would forget to eat at all.

"Seto. Dinner" Mokuba proclaimed in a serious voice and the named raised his eyebrows. When had his brother started to sound like his mother? Not that he had known her for a long time …

"All right, all right, I'm coming" he murmured, getting out of his chair, but before that saving the project he had been working on and closing the program completely. Now not a single person would be granted access to that information. There were safety measures beyond normality installed on that computer. Speaking about safety, Seto knew that he always had to keep an eye on that Bakura who was waiting for him to make the slightest mistake so that he could steal something that he could use against him…or just to steal something. He, but there was no way Seto would allow that. Never! He, the great Seto Kaiba was a prodigy! Ha haaa!

"Seto? Speaking to yourself again?" his evil laughter was interrupted by Mokuba's voice and the accused one glimpsed at his brother bluntly.

"No… why such ideas? I would never…"

"Food. Eat. The end." And with that Mokuba almost dragged Seto out of the room.

* * *

Yami Bakura was wandering from one room to another, looking around at the expensive furniture …uninterested. So what if he had sneaked in Kaiba's mansion **again**? After all, there was nothing worthy his time to steal here. Everything that could catch his interest was locked up somewhere and sealed with multiply passwords. And this was Seto's invited technology we are talking about and it was impressive enough to hold away even the great thief King from the things he aimed for. Actually, if Bakura hadn't lost almost all of his powers, a tiny security code wouldn't hold him back. He would just broken down the walls.

Bakura grimaced at the thought that he could lower himself so far as to start stealing chairs from Kaiba's mansion. That would be low, heh… but he chuckled at the thought evilly, wondering how exactly pissed off would Kaiba look if he woke up one morning and couldn't find a single chair to sit on. Gee, but there was way too many chairs in this… palest…that the Kaiba brothers called "home". He knew it. He had wandered around the house quite often. It wasn't a challenge for him to get past the guards and the simple signalization that was good enough only to keep out some common criminals. Well, Bakura was not some common criminal. He was the king!… of thieves… Sometimes he forgot to add that…

"Boooring…" the almighty King of thieves yawned, peeking inside of one of the rooms he passed by. Oh, Seto's room…He got inside, looking around with a critical eye. Yes, Seto was really dull and boring. The walls of the room was grayish blue, the floor was cowered with a not very soft and black carpet, the bed, the wardrobe, the desk and some other furniture was made out of a dark-brown wood. Everything was perfectly clean. Actually, the room looked sterile. On the desk was a computer… a shock, eh? And on the cabinet beside Kaiba's bed were lying some documents. Gee, this room never changed. Every time when Bakura visited it, he saw the same, there was never anything different, never a single thing dropped on the floor, never a pair of dirty socks in a corner, never a… wait… what was that on the nightstand? No, not the documents but that little black book? … What was that? Bakura came closer and took it, opening the cover of it. The first page read "Seto Kaiba's Notes". Oh, so this was his notebook, eh? … Bakura noticed that the handwriting looked like that of a kid at the beginning and further it started to look more and more like the handwriting of a grown-up. Hey, so this was something like a journal not a notebook? Ha! A Diary!

Bakura beamed, smirking evilly. No, no beaming, he was evil so he had to keep acting like that. He started to read some little bits from the first pages and almost fell asleep there. It was just some little kid's rambling about how the life was. It seemed that Seto had been rambling pretty much as a kid...it went approximately like this "I had a bad dream yesterday. It scared me. I wanted to tell Mokuba about it but didn't want to scare him too. There was that guy. I see him in my dreams quite often. This time he died. He looked nice and reminded me of my mother. I wonder if she's looking over Mokuba and me now. Why did she have to die, God?" Oh how sad, Bakura sneered and turned over some pages. He guessed that now Kaiba was writing here very rarely and probably just something very important. Like, how to become the ruler of the world? … In his dreams… Bakura wondered if he shouldn't leave soon so that Kaiba wouldn't find him here… even thought, where's the need to worry if he could vanish in darkness whenever he wanted? Hmmm, he had lost most of his millennium powers but not completely everything… so he went back to reading the notebook, actually not caring that the former high priest could find him here. As if he hadn't seen him in this house before. Should get used by now. Heh, Bakura laughed to himself, Mokuba sure had had a shock for the rest of his life after he had run into him some months ago. Hehehe…he snapped out of his thoughts and focused on reading again. Oh boy, Kaiba was really a bad writer…Boring… he turned over some pages…Still boring… some more pages…still the kid's rambling…some more…almost the same but now something about Gonsaburo …who cared… more pages… booooring… more pages… more pages…more… more…more… more… and…ooooh…interesting…

* * *

Seto went upstairs and stopped at his room. The entire time the feeing that something was wrong hadn't let go of him. But maybe he was just becoming paranoid. _Not good. Note to self: stop being paranoid. And stop making notes to self, that's childish. I'm not a child._

He entered his room, took off his trench coat and put it neatly in his wardrobe. He turned around to take his notebook he had left on the nightstand earlier to put it away in a safer place.

Unfortunately, there was no notebook on the nightstand anymore.

Damn…

Seto blinked a few times and almost screamed out loud when he noticed Bakura sitting on his bed. But he stopped himself from that. He couldn't show any other emotions except hate toward his enemies, right? Right. Then he noticed that Bakura was holding something in his hand. His notebook. This time he almost felt like whimpering. This was so unfair! Just why every time he made a small stupid mistake someone always had to use it against him? It was unforgivable to threaten his brother or company but to steal his personal notes was simply immoral. This was probably his one and only personal thing… ever! What meant that the only logical salvation to this problem was… to kill Bakura! _Shut it, Kaiba. Just give him money; it's probably what he wants._

"What are you…" Seto started in a threatening voice but was interrupted rudely by the same good, old Bakura who was still sitting on his bed.

"I have a deal for you…" he smirked, holding the notebook in the air for Seto to see it even better.

_Ok, ok, I see it already I see it! You have my notes, yes, you have them, boy… now go and kill yourself you, fucker. Hey, wait, a deal? I'll kill him… _

"Place my notebook back on my bed and leave as fast as it's possible for an immortal human being and then MAYBE I'll let you live. Otherwise, I guess I just have to kill you for what you have read…"

Bakura didn't seem at least a little impressed by Seto's threatenings, yawning uninterestedly. "You can't defeat the one who is the evil with your useless threats. I might have lost some of my powers but I'm pretty well capable enough to vanish in the darkness at any time… And then you'll have absolutely no one to get killed. Poor, poor little Kaiba…"

_Darn… how could I forget about this entire darkness thing? Bakura's such an asshole and he sounds like an idiot. And how __**dares**__ he call me __**little**__ Kaiba? That's …illogical. Ok, shut up Seto, you sound like an idiot yourself. _Even thought Seto's thoughts were living their own life inside of his head, in the features of his face not a single muscle flickered. That's what called good acting… or stone face…

"Ok. Fine. I don't have time for your foolish games. Let's make it easier for me and for you and for everyone. I'll give you money and you'll leave me alone at last. And don't expect me to bring you the stars and the moon from the heaven now, those are just some stupid notes, nothing important so I wouldn't be so…"

Bakura just rolled his eyes. He was tired of listening to the CEO's incessant rambling about how cold hearted and how emotionless and how uninterested in everything he was. Like right, who did buy that anymore?

"Listen now" Bakura interrupted Seto, trying to explain him what exactly he wanted "I must admit that I read some of your oh-so-unimportant notes and I can surely say you're the worst writer ever. But somewhere in the middle it started to get interesting and, a long story short, I can tell you that we have something in common now…or at least something partly common. I can help you and you can help me with that and…"

"I'm not going to make any deals with you, psycho!"

Bakura started at Seto for a minute and then added "Shut it, Kaiba… now we have to get over your foolish pride so we can make a deal that would be favorable for me and for you"

* * *

With that made clear we return to where we left in the previous chapter, at Joey and Mai's house where Yami was trying to be a good babysitter and Seto was right behind the door while the wannabe-babysitter changed from a dress to his normal clothes. That shouldn't be so hard to do because his normal clothes were right under the dress. He couldn't get rid of the dress though. After 10 or so minutes he succeeded and told the four kids to be nice now and go to Mike's room to play a little bit because he had to get rid of the evil monster Kaiba. Yami went to open the door, doubting the possibility that Kaiba had really stayed outside for ten minutes and waited for him. It wasn't like Kaiba to wait for something. Anything. Actually, Yami was even hoping that Kaiba would have gone away… but his luck was short and when he opened the door, there he was- the one and only Seto Kaiba in his full glory. His trench coat didn't conform to any rules of gravity so Yami had always wondered if the CEO required it to be stiffened in those weird positions? Well, he may never know…

"Will you let me in or are you going to stare at my coat forever? What's wrong with you? First, you're at this dog's house, second, you're in a dress and, on top of it, you make me wait for 10 minutes in front of the door! Who do you think you are?!" Seto complained pushing Yami aside and walking inside.

_And who do you think __**you**__ are, you immature, arrogant and selfish creature? Ah, why didn't I make you wait half an hour instead? … would you have waited half an hour? Oh well… What do you want from me? _

"So you're not going to even speak to me now? Is the princess offended?" Seto's tone was turning scornful as he looked at Yami. The former pharaoh just shrugged, finding it already normal that Kaiba just came here and insulted him. He knew that the only thing that really angered Kaiba was the fact that he ignored him. So, Yami tried his best to ignore Seto even if the insults were really ill founded and low. Did he have any other choice? Not really. He and Seto were friends, weren't they? Ok, they weren't, but he didn't want to fight with him and so he just waited for Kaiba to get to the point where he would explain why had he come here in the first place. He just hoped that not for another duel… what actually was the only reason the CEO visited him… and he was sick of that…

"What do you want?" Yami questioned his rival, looking in his deep blue eyes and searching there for an answer. Seto shifted from one foot to other what was very atypical for him and then sat down in the nearest chair.

"I know that you as the pharaoh of Egypt had some slaves in the past" he declared, leaving Yami speechless.

"… and?" Yami felt furious. What did that has to do with this visit? Now he was seriously pissed off. Had that arrogant, idiotic and selfish CEO really lost the last bits of brain cells still left in that head of his? Why in the name of all gods would Seto start to talk about the past now?

But Seto continued his speech calmly "You had different slaves, aren't I right?"

"I don't see your point"

"You had sex slaves as well, right?"

Yami choked. Woah, that was unexpected. All his anger suddenly died down and now he was despairingly trying not to blush. Hell, how could Seto know that?

"Different sex slaves those were commanded to fulfill you every wish, hm?" Seto asked in a cocky tone what made Yami feel even worse.

"Why are you asking me this? That doesn't interest me even a little bit. Beside, it's none of your business what I did as the Pharaoh back in Egypt. I really can't understand why of all people exactly you should be the one to grub about what has once happened" Yami looked at Seto with mixed feelings, from one side quite angry but from another also slightly insecure about the answer. He didn't feel like discussing his private life in the ancient Egypt after all these years. Especially not with Kaiba.

Seto had this evil grin on his face… something that Yami could get sick from. But his beloved "friend" (or now rival again… probably) just made himself even more comfortable in his chair, suddenly feeling so self-confident as if he had just solved the world's problems of hunger, war and incurable diseases.

"Are you feeling nervous, dear Yami? Why such a worried look now? I'm sure that if that's not bothering you even a little bit then I can tell that your little cheerleader group that you call your friends, eh?"

"No. Why would you ever do something like that" Yami was confused: "If you want a duel, we can duel. Don't mix my friends into this." What did Kaiba want from him? And why would he threaten to tell his friends those things? There was something seriously wrong with this whole situation… very very …wrong…

"So you don't want your friends to know about your indecent behavior in the past? Why? Isn't that just something unimportant and nothing to worry about? Past is past, there's nothing you can change about it, hm?"

"Ay, Seto… no, I do **not** want my friends to know about it …I can't see why would you like to tall them such nonsense. Tell me clearly this one thing, what do you want?" Yami looked at the CEO who was sitting in the chair comfortably as if there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Ok, for him probably there was nothing to worry about. _Grrr…_

"You're not as stupid as you look, Yami. You're right, I want something and that's why I came here. Did you think that I came here to drop a short visit to my beloved friend Joey and give him flowers and candies because I have nothing better to do with my free time?" Seto asked cockily.

_Obviously__ you don't have anything better to do with your time if you waste your time on me,_ Yami wondered to himself but said nothing. He ignored the regular dose of insults on him: "Then what do you want?"

Seto smiled evilly and his previous smirk grew wider and scarier. That looked quite psycho. _Is Kaiba possessed by some kind of a daemon_? Yami wondered.

"You have to live at my house and do whatever I want from you"

"… WHAT?" this time Yami really screamed out, angrily grabbing Seto by the corral to look in his eyes, ready to kill. Fine, he could make fun of him, but this was already crossing the line. He was getting tired of this attitude. "What is this sick game you're playing here? You know that I still think that we could be friends, Seto… but I really don't like when you play with my mind. I'm not someone you can make fun of that easily, don't you realize it?" then he let go of Kaiba, trying to control his emotions. Ok, maybe he had reacted a little bit too aggressive but there was just so much one person could take. This whole evening had turned out to be a disaster.

"I am not joking and I am not playing any game here, King" the tone of Seto's voice already was crossing the lines of mockery: "I'm being completely serious. You were using people as you wanted in the past, now it's time for you to see their feelings, it's time for you to be ordered around." Yami looked lost. What was he talking about there? And that was what Seto understood by the word _serious_?

"You're talking about my past here, Kaiba. I don't remember you being interested that much in the past, especially not in anyone other's. Besides, who are you to judge me, Kaiba…are you a knight in shining armor to fight for the love and justice? You were as bad as I was… I also don't remember when have you been really worried about how the others feel?" Yami looked at his rival coldly. He may not be sure what was going on here but he was not a toy to be played with: "Who are you to tell me what should I do! I don't agree to your conditions those make no sense not to me. You can tell my friends about my past, they will understand. I'm not exactly proud of what I but it was the time and the circumstances those put me in such position. Kaiba, go home and take care of your own life before you're meddling with others privacy" although Yami's voice was brave and cold, he was feeling weak. He felt tired of this constant fighting and fears of losing his friends' trust. And Kaiba. He was tired of him as well.

Seto shrugged, not impressed by the answer. Well, he had expected that Yami would not give up easily. He had a plan B, geee, what did you think? Seto had brain and he liked to use those gray cells from time to time. He got up from his seat, took a stop forward Yami and shoved a paper in his face.

"What is that?" the former pharaoh was confused. He took the paper and examined it for a moment. It was a document. God, what did this have to do with… wait… this could not be true. Kaiba wouldn't dare to…

"As you can read, if you can, it states that Yugi's shop will get demolished in a week so that it would make a place for a new office building" the evil smile of Seto's face was back.

… what the hell…

"I don't quite understand…" Yami murmured. He didn't. Really. He did not understand any of this insanity.

"I'm the proprietor of the land where that miserable Yugi's wreck of a game shop is located now. It was quite easy to buy that land especially as the old man, Yugi's dear grandfather, had never really claimed his rights to it. Sad, isn't it? Of course Yugi can still bring an action against me but well… let's see… he would never in his life win this case and sooner or later his pitiable wreck of a shop would go down anyway…with **my** help of course. So, what do you say now, Yami? Will you find the way to my mansion or should I pick you up tomorrow?"

Yami stared at the CEO wide eyed forgetting about not showing his weakness or fears to his enemy. He felt really depressed at this moment and all he wanted to know was why ever should Kaiba do something like this? To punish him for what he had done in the past? No. Way.

Maybe this was his only way how to take some revenge for all those lost duels? But it was too foolish. Yami was not feeling well, not psychically nor emotionally. There was this weird feeling in his stomach that told him that this would not end well. He knew that Kaiba wouldn't harm him… wait… he knew? Ha ha! No, he hoped! He knew nothing… But maybe this was all just a sick game and after some time Kaiba would just let him go? His stomach was killing him but there was a weird rush of excitement as well. If this was just a game he could solve it and win it. He looked Seto straight in the eyes finding no sympathy there.

"I don't trust you, Kaiba. How can I know that this all is not just a trap?"

Seto rolled his eyes, "Do I look like I care?"

Yami wasn't over the moon about what was happening here. Fine. So be it. "If I agree to do what you demand, you won't tell a thing to my friends and Yugi will keep his shop, did I understand that correctly?"

"Right"

Yami sighed. He couldn't believe he would really have to say it.

"…Fine, then pick me up tomorrow evening. I'll pack my things…."

Seto was more than pleased with his success and smiled smugly, turning around and stalking out of the room with his trench coat wavering behind him.

"Wait, Kaiba… just one question…" Yami's voice was quiet but loud enough to stop the CEO from leaving the house.

"Why?"

Seto turned around, stared at the other boy as he looked like one. Still and said slowly, lingering on every word: "Rule one: No talking if I'm not ordering you to talk"

And with that he was gone.

* * *

"_**I just wanna live**"_

_I need an alarm system in my house  
So I know when people are  
Creeping about  
These people are  
Freaking me out_

_It's getting hectic everywhere that I go  
They won't leave me alone  
There's things they all wanna know  
I'm paranoid about the people I meet  
Why are they talking to me?  
And why can't anyone see_

_I just wanna live  
Don't really care about the things that they say  
Don't really care about what happens to me  
I just wanna live  
_

A/N: I hope you're still reading. :) If you do, leave me some reviews and suggestions. Bows and thanks


	4. Paranoia

**A/N: A bit shorter chapter this time. Finally something partially new :)**

**Less and less people have been reading this story but hey, I'm two years late with it. --   
However, the ones still reading, drop a review in the spare time.**

* * *

"**Paranoia"**

* * *

It was Friday evening and the sky was unusual dark. Not a single star out there. The weather was raw, but it _was_ already late autumn and what other could be expected, a warm and sunny evening and a beautiful sunset? Not exactly…

This weather only made Yami feel worse than he already was feeling… if that was even possible... He had packed his things and now was sitting at the window in his room, staring outside with a blank look on his face. All of this was really… tiring. He had no ideas what was awaiting him, but whatever it was it was nothing good. He hadn't told Yami the truth and that made his heart ache like hell. But he just couldn't let Yugi worry about him or, even worse, give up his joy and pride- the game shop. Yami knew that his other side could do that for him and that's why his soul screamed and ached and made him feel terrible. If Yugi wasn't such a great person… if he didn't care about him at all… if he only had someone to talk with about all this mess in his head. But he was alone and he didn't dare to drag any of his friends into this. Why hadn't his aibou been at least a little suspicious when he had lied to him about going to Kaiba's mansion for an uncertain period of time to work there was still a mystery to Yami. Did Yugi really trust that double-faced snake Kaiba that much? He must be blind…

Or was he just so happy that Yami had finally got a job that he didn't really care that it was Kaiba he was talking about? Whatever it was, Yami actually felt quite delighted that Yugi hadn't started to question him. He strongly doubted his abilities to lie looking in Yugi's eyes. The once mighty and powerful Pharaoh moved about in his chair and glanced at the clock miserably. 8pm… yesterday evenings he had been so frustrated that he was left to baby-sit Joey and Mai's kid…now he was already missing that brat… now he was ready to baby-sit a whole army of kids! Maybe…

He wondered when exactly Kaiba was going to pick him up. He wondered what Mokuba would say. He wondered if he could manage to stay alive there for more than two days…or two hours. He wondered a lot but his only wish was to stop thinking at all. This was pure torture.

A car stopped outside of the game shop (now more a game mall) as Yami could observe from his window and he closed his eyes as in pain. This stress was eating him. He grabbed his zip-bag with some of his clothes and some other important things like his toothbrush and shampoo (well, hair was pretty important) and other things in it and descended the stairs slowly, not trying to look pale and scared even thought that was exactly how he felt. Probably he was just being paranoid and nothing bad would happen and this all meant nothing. Beside, he was able to protect himself if it was needed, wasn't he? … Yami didn't answer this question himself because he wasn't sure if he could. Would he be able to protect himself if everything that Yugi had gained with hard work, Seto could destroy with ease? Would he be able to protect himself if Seto decided to play with everything that was precious to his friends? Yami couldn't stop the thoughts in his head and when he went downstairs, he saw Seto and Yugi talking and felt like something crushed inside of him. He wouldn't survive if Yugi lost everything because of him.

This meant that he would die in a slow and painful death… and that meant he should stop making such a fool out of himself for thinking like that.

Yami coughed to get some attention and grimaced when Seto looked at him with a smile on his lips. Oh, how he loathed that egoistic bastard.

"Ready to go, Yami?" Kaiba asked and Yami wanted to scream right into his face that, no, he wasn't ready to go and never will be, especially if he didn't know what exactly and why was happening to him; but he just nodded.

"Hey, I'm really happy for you, Yami and it's nice that you and Seto get on so well with each other. But I guess that I will miss you around the house as well. But that's all right, because it's important for you to become more independent… but you can return here whenever you want… you know that, right?" Yugi was trying to act happy so Yami wouldn't see how sad he actually was about the fact that his friend was leaving him… only for a while, hopefully. They hadn't been separated for more than two or three day in the last six years and this was the first time Yami was actually 'leaving' the house for 'an uncertain period of time' to 'work'. He and Yami were the best friends and close like brothers, well, probably much closer than brothers, well, but really not THAT close as some could think. And they had always been there for each other. And now Yami was leaving! Yugi had been so happy about him finding a real job (because before it –if you still remember- Yami had failed at everything he tried) that he had somehow omitted the fact that Yami would have to move out of his house because of it. Now it had finally fully sunk in his mind and he was torn between joy and sadness. He hadn't even told Mai, Joey, Tea and all the others anything about Yami's moving out of his house for 'an uncertain period of time'…what did this 'an uncertain period of time" meant anyway? Especially if Yami was immortal…er…

But maybe he was being silly now; Yugi tried to convince himself to think positively…Yami wasn't moving to another country, for God's sake! …And still, Yugi couldn't get rid of the feeling that after all this nothing will be as it was… Beside, he was fighting with the tears those were creeping in his eyes against his own will. The nice, kindhearted boy would probably be terrified if he knew what was actually happening to his dear Yami…

"It's ok, aibou, I'm going to miss you as much as you're going to miss me… but just because I'm moving out of this place for a while doesn't mean it's the end of the world. I'm not dying, Yugi!"

_But you never know if I'm ever going to return alive, my dear friend…_

"Don't worry, so much, I'll call you and I'll visit you often…"

_If I'm granted one last wish, I'll call you…_

"So you won't even notice the lack of my presence in the house"

…_because__you'll have to visit me in the graveyard…_

Yami smiled a soothing smile, glancing from the corner of his eyes at Kaiba's face. There was actually another expression on it than usual. Something like… emotions… real emotions. Scary, eh?

"Of course I'll notice that you're not there! You're my soul; you're my yami! How can I not notice that you'll be gone!?" Yugi cried out and hugged his darker half. Dramatize much? He sniffed some times and then calmed down, deciding that his behavior probably was more than just foolish.

"And don't be a too strict boss to him, you promise, Seto?" Yugi added and Yami wished for the ground to open and swallow him, especially as Seto just nodded and murmured something that none of them could understand.

All right… so this was it… Yami smiled at Yugi one more time before he followed Kaiba who had already got outside and waited at his fancy car for him. Great, he felt like he was going to a concentration camp. Maybe even that would be better?

They got in the car and after a moment Yami could see only a little silhouette of Yugi who was still standing in front of the door of the game shop…(all right, more than a game mall) and looking after them… oh joy, and now he was left all alone with Kaiba.

_Dear Ra, why?_

"So, enjoying yourself, Yami?" Seto questioned, not even looking at the sulking pharaoh in the passenger seat.

_Oh yes, of course_… "I am not…" Yami sighed, wanting to get out of the car…now!

"Well, too bad for you that you'll have to enjoy yourself and stop sulking. And I like the little lie you thought out to get away from Yugi. But if I ever commission you as one of my assistants, Yami, you can shoot me in the head."

"Don't worry, I will"

"I'm sure you will…"

There was a silence between them. Yami knew that if he wasn't going to say something, there would be silence for the rest of this drive…

"And what will Mokuba say?"

"What do you mean, what will Mokuba say? We're brothers, Yami, we don't have any secrets between us and, beside, I don't have to answer for my actions to my brother."

Okay… that was a bad start for a conversation so he decided better to stay silent. Seto was such a freak. This was ridiculous! What exactly that bad had he done in the past anyway? Phew, some slaves and what? They were threatened very nice. He guessed… Hm… where had those slaves come from anyway? Okay, so what, he had done some weird things in the past but THAT didn't give Kaiba any rights to make a fool out of him now.

And so Yami kept sulking until the car stopped.

"We're here," Seto grumbled, getting out of the car and waiting for Yami to do the same. Aha, so they were here. And that had been pretty fast…ok, a fast car. And? What if he refused to get out now? Would Seto drag him out? … That possibility was high so he got out of the car and just then looking at the villa in front of him.

Oh wow, he, of course, had seen more impressive buildings than this one (as the former Pharaoh of the Egypt it was hard to be impressed about something) but this time Yami was impressed. This place was three times as big as where he had lived until now and the building was so much more beautiful than anything he had seen for the past six years. Yami could have never thought that Seto as the president of the Kaiba corp. could have any sense of beauty, although…Kaiba was the reincarnation of his high priest who had lived in the same Egypt at the same time as he had, so… if Yami himself was so fond of the beauty around him, why shouldn't Kaiba be?

"Do you need an extra invitation?" Seto started to grow impatient, looking at Yami frustrated. The former Pharaoh just kept staring at the house. There was a small hint of hope in him that maybe, but just MAYBE, this all wouldn't be as bad as he had imagined. Unfortunately, in the same moment all his hopes died as Kaiba yanked him by the arm roughly to get his attention.

"Follow me" The said CEO murmured and stalked to the front door. He had parked his car almost beside the front door and that was something Yami was thankful for because Seto was going with such large steps that he found it hard to keep up with him. Stupid Kaiba…

"And now, welcome to my world" was Seto's introduction as Yami entered his mansion. All right, now Yami was more than just impressed. This place was huge. Wait, he had seen one room only and was already speechless? But, hey, the beginning was pretty impressive. There was a very small corridor where you had to take off your shoes and leave them there. After that the corridor fused into a much larger and much higher hall with many tall and arch-like windows. This was grand… There were two stairs, each starting from the opposite side of the room and meeting atop only to merge into another hall. Both halls, the one upstairs and the one downstairs lead to numerous rooms and corridors those were leading to even more rooms and corridors those were… in one sentence, this house was huge. Yami had never expected to see something like this at Kaiba's place. On the other hand, he had never expected to set a foot in this mansion at all. But now when he was here…

"Suite yourself, Yami, I'm going to my office here to work for a while. You, in the mean time, can look around but you're not allowed to go in those rooms those are locked. Did you understand?"

"It will be quite different to walk in a room that is locked but I'm going to try anyway" Yami spitted out, suddenly wishing that he had bitten off his tongue instead. It seemed that Seto couldn't stand ANY jokes about himself. He was furious and Yami felt like a small, black bug. He wanted to crawl in a dusty corner and live there for the rest of his life.

"Hmph…all right, you asked for it. You'll come with me and rewrite what I tell you. I hope you can at least write, dummy, or otherwise there is really no use for you…"

"I'm not a dummy and, yes, I can write" Yami stated, swallowing this insult this time. He wondered how much longer he is going to keep this up.

Kaiba went straight to his office and Yami had to follow him like a lost dog…what was exactly how he was feeling now. And he felt trapped. And there was no worse feeling like that.

"Why are you doing this anyway? I just don't see the sense of all this…" he asked in a calm voice, not getting any answer. It almost seemed like Kaiba wasn't paying the slightest attention to him until they stopped at a room and the said arrogant CEO opened the door and turned so he faced Yami now: "Do NOT ask me any questions if I don't allow you to do so, did you understand?" he hissed and reached for the ex-pharaoh to force him into the room. Yami noticed this movement and almost darted in, not wanting for Kaiba to touch him. Any contact with that guy made him want to throw himself up. And now he had to spend who-the-hell-know-how-long in the same room as him. To die from a bamboo that's growing through you couldn't be as bad as this…

"What do I have to…"

"I said DON'T ask me ANY questions unless I allow you that, did you NOW understand it?" Seto yelled in Yami's face, making him jump a little. My goddess, that guy really needed some help…

"You can't treat me like a slave!" Yami tried to protest. Well, Kaiba had never said anything about that he wasn't allowed to speak at all.

"Yes I can and I will" Seto just smirked and went to the largest desk in the room made out of a high quality dark wood, and sat in the chair at it, looking very smug. Yami wanted to rip that stupid smile out of that idiotic face but couldn't do anything but stand in the middle of the room and keep quiet. Seto turned to the laptop on the desk and soon was typing something, fully ignoring Yami who was still standing in the middle of the room. Great. Just great. Yami had already cursed Kaiba some million times and now wanted to rip a peace out of his throat and kill him…with his teeth…no, better not…Yami started to scare himself…so he waited. Maybe he could ask Seto what he should do without actually asking him a question. Well, that was a hard task…

"I am going to sit down" he stated, waiting for a response. If Seto wouldn't say anything then…

"No, I'm quite enjoying you standing there. So, keep standing, it's all nice and good."

_OH, that arrogant, selfish, ignorant, mean…_

"And stop glaring! It's not going to help. If you're doing what I tell you then maybe we'll even get along with each other."

_Yeah right, hope on_… Yami did not want to get along with Seto Kaiba. He didn't want anything to do with Seto Kaiba…but he kept standing, gazing in one point. This was seriously hurting his pride.

An hour passed…and nothing changed…

Another hour passed… but nothing changed…

And one more hour passed… Seto started to wonder if Yami had not fallen asleep standing there. And it was almost half twelve now… and Mokuba wasn't home yet? Well, that meant he was out to a club and wouldn't be back tonight. Good for him. Seto didn't have anything to complain about. He glanced at Yami and suddenly started to feel guilty… there he was, looking almost like a frozen statuette. And he was not happy. But Bakura had said… Seto sighed. He hated this. On the other hand… he loved this. What was wrong with him?

"Ok, you can go and do whatever you want, I'm going to bed." Seto get out of his seat and went to the door. Yami opened his mouth to say something but Seto was already gone. Yami closed his mouth again and blinked a few times. That had been the weirdest thing he had ever experienced in his whole life…

* * *

/Linkin Park/

**"**_**Papercut"**  
_  
Why does it feel like night today?  
Something in here's not right today  
Why am I so uptight today?  
Paranoia's all I got left  
I don't know what stressed me first  
Or how the pressure was fed / but  
I know just what it feels like  
To have a voice in the back of my head  
It's like a face that I hold inside  
A face that awakes when I close my eyes  
A face watches every time I lie  
A face that laughs every time I fall  
(And watches everything)  
So I know that when it's time to sink or swim  
That the face inside is hearing me / right beneath my skin

* * *

A/N: So, this chapter was mainly as you may have noticed about Seto and Yami without any Bakura … but… he's back in the next chapter:) See what a great author I am? sarcasm


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